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The Best You
This empowering picture book celebrates the importance of being you; perfect for fans of I Am Enough and The Wonderful Things You Will Be.
Young children dream about who they’ll be when they grow up—will they be a firefighter, an astronaut, or an artist? But what about being caring, passionate, and creative? Author Nima Patel crafts a thought-provoking story that celebrates self-acceptance and being present. The Best You teaches young readers that what you want to be when you grow up is not always as important as who you are.
Young children dream about who they’ll be when they grow up—will they be a firefighter, an astronaut, or an artist? But what about being caring, passionate, and creative? Author Nima Patel crafts a thought-provoking story that celebrates self-acceptance and being present. The Best You teaches young readers that what you want to be when you grow up is not always as important as who you are.
32 pages, Hardcover
Published March 26, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
May 15, 2025
A nice picture book about helping children be their best self rather than the pressure of asking them what they want t be when they grow up -- as they really don't need to be thinking about it yet!
The characters in the illustrations were diverse which is nice. As you can see from the cover we have POC characters and disabled characters visually represented.
Written in prose which worked well, and then it brought home its main theme with a single rhyming sentence across two pages at the end. And that worked for me :)
The characters in the illustrations were diverse which is nice. As you can see from the cover we have POC characters and disabled characters visually represented.
Written in prose which worked well, and then it brought home its main theme with a single rhyming sentence across two pages at the end. And that worked for me :)
April 18, 2024
This is a beautiful story about self-acceptance and being the best version of oneself. Every parent should buy this book for their child to show them the importance of nurturing their best emotional attributes and genuine talents. The heartwarming characters and lovely illustrations make you long for more pages! Thanks Nima Patel for this important picture book!
April 30, 2026
The best you is a lovely picture book that reminds us that you don’t have to fit a certain mold but rather being a well rounded individual who has all the best qualities.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 30, 2024
When I was asked, as a child and a teen, what I wanted to be when I grew up, other people knew the answer before I did – they all knew I would be a librarian. I had already created a miniature library in the space under the stairs that held my bookshelves, and I was a bookworm extraordinaire (some things never change!) I sympathize with children being asked what they want to be when they are older. I know I was the exception, in knowing what I wanted to be, what I wanted to do. Nima Patel’s The Best You takes this idea as its starting point but expands it. Rather than spend the story asking children what they want to be when they grow up, she starts with their teacher asking them this very question, offering a few suggestions before posing a very important question. ‘What really makes these people who they are?’ The focus therefore becomes not what do you want to do when you grow up but who do you want to be. It is the perfect accompaniment to Children’s Mental Health Week and its theme of ‘My Voice Matters.’
When the children in this story are asked what they want to do, the suggestions are: teacher, firefighter, astronaut, artist. We then turn the page and discover an astronaut floating in space, learning that they are daring, they reach for the stars and make may what have seemed impossible become possible. We are then introduced to doctors who know how to help people who are hurt or poorly. Sports stars have a double page all to themselves as we see the little girl training, trying, falling, failing, getting back up, again and again… We meet teachers, engineers. If we turn the book there is another wonderful double page spread, this one for the firefighters rescuing the kitten from the tree. Artists, musicians, volunteers, we see them all and we are told that it is absolutely fine if we don’t know yet, if there are lots of things we would like to try. Being the best us, the best you, that is what matters. With charming illustrations from Cally Johnson-Isaacs this is an uplifting, joyous celebration reminding us all that the very best version of ourselves lives inside us.
When the children in this story are asked what they want to do, the suggestions are: teacher, firefighter, astronaut, artist. We then turn the page and discover an astronaut floating in space, learning that they are daring, they reach for the stars and make may what have seemed impossible become possible. We are then introduced to doctors who know how to help people who are hurt or poorly. Sports stars have a double page all to themselves as we see the little girl training, trying, falling, failing, getting back up, again and again… We meet teachers, engineers. If we turn the book there is another wonderful double page spread, this one for the firefighters rescuing the kitten from the tree. Artists, musicians, volunteers, we see them all and we are told that it is absolutely fine if we don’t know yet, if there are lots of things we would like to try. Being the best us, the best you, that is what matters. With charming illustrations from Cally Johnson-Isaacs this is an uplifting, joyous celebration reminding us all that the very best version of ourselves lives inside us.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews